Sin and Stryfe
by Jaide DM
Summary: For every evil there is good. For every good, evil. Sin, the Final Aeon. The Fayth, and the Stryfe. Creation phase. Oneshot for now.


I can't say I know how the Fayth did what they did. Granted, I'm only human, or so they made me. I don't know much of anything, to be honest. I remember dying, if you could call it that. I remember ceasing to exist. I remember I didn't much care for it.

That's what I can't understand. I remember all of it. I had coherent thought after death. How was that possible? How could I still think and remember when I never existed?

Just pondering on it now gives me a migraine.

I was aware of nothing but myself. My tortured thoughts and myself. Two years is an eternity when there is no measure of time.

I don't want to go back.

I won't.

Unless…

One 

"Y, R, P, in position. It's showtime girls."

Yuna shook her head, smiling. It had become Rikku's un-official opening line every night.

"Stop it." Came a stern reply through Yuna's earpiece.

Paine found it more of an annoyance than a tradition. "The first time wasn't even Yuna." She would say. They're bantering still kept Yuna entertained.

"Yuna, are you ready?" Came a casual, slightly filtered voice.

Yuna smoothed out her clothes, checking herself over one last time. All around her it was silent, though she knew this was only because of the sphere she was contained in.

"You look great." Came Rikku's voice again, this time whispered from behind instead of through the earpiece.

Yuna simply nodded, clearing her throat.

"I'm ready Shinra."

"Great. Let's get this show on the road!"

Immediately Yuna felt the ground shift below her, the platform on which she stood slowly rising. Yuna took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Even now she was nervous. The artificial light shone down on her, making Yuna feel a little self-conscious. Leblanc designed the outfit she was wearing, and it wasn't modest by any means.

Personally, Yuna was fond of her old one, but it was no longer practical. She had worn it a couple of times since Lenne "left her", but it wasn't the same. The garment had lost its hold when it's original owner left.

Yuna didn't mind the clothing, but did it have to be so racy?

"Opening the sphere." Shinra announced calmly.

"More like detonating." Yuna said aloud, making Rikku snicker.

Yuna smiled in preparation. As nervous as she was, she truly enjoyed it.

_Boom!_

The sphere exploded outward, and Yuna was on. The second the massive sphere came apart, the roar of the crowd hit Yuna's ears, in time with the first chord of the music.

Two 

"Blitzoff!"

As the opening buzzer and the announcing shout came forth, the ball was launched into the middle of the blitz sphere. Tidus decided not to go after it. He would have the team slow play it, and work their way into the enemy's holes. He glanced to the left and right, at his forwards.

"Zalitz, get to their goal, we'll take care of the rest."

"Roger."

Tidus glanced back at the rest of his team.

"Flash Formation." He shouted.

Tidus swam quickly ahead, smiling to himself. Shortly after returning to the world of Spira he re-created the Zanarkand Abes. It was an arduous project, recruiting people for a brand new team. It had gone smoother than he had hoped, however. His name had gotten around during his last run through blitz. He had designed the team from the ground up. Tidus had implemented all the uniforms, techniques, and training. With the help of Wakka, of course. As it stood, the Abes were undefeated in the Spira league tournament.

Tidus moved toward the enemy forward, keeping one eye on the blocker he had assigned to the enemy goal. He shot toward the forward, closing the gap as quickly as possible. He wouldn't be able to tackle the man alone, but he didn't need to.

Tidus came to an abrupt and practiced halt, backpedaling as he came upright. He continued the movement, flipping backwards in the water. The maneuver brought Tidus below the enemy defender, and he swam swiftly beneath the confused man. The forward turned to follow him, not wanting to be tackled from behind.

Which was exactly what happened.

The Abes' right forward hit him like a charging dual horn, snatching the ball even as the Al Bhed found himself spiraling away from the game. The forward immediately passed the ball to Tidus, catching the whole enemy formation off guard. Tidus caught it easily, spinning and throwing toward the enemy goal. As soon as it left his hand, Tidus rocketed off after it.

Zalitz caught the pass, fighting off the only defender in his area, and using the man's back as a platform. He sprung away from the Psyche defender, throwing the ball toward the top of the sphere.

Right at the team captain, who was already in position. The rest of the Psyches, who had been duped into a wild blitz chase, had left Tidus undefended. He moved himself, preparing for the volley that Zalitz had given him. He spun sideways, cocking his leg back to kick. He held it, timing the balls ascent toward him, while he fell to meet it.

He kicked the ball as hard as he could, parting the water around his foot. The ball moved like it was shot out of a cannon, weaving as it made it's way toward the enemy's goal.

Their goalie couldn't hope to block the shot. The Zanarkand Abes scored.

Three 

"How's he doing?" Rikku asked, running to the edge of the platform.

"He already scored!" Yuna replied excitedly, clasping her hands together.

"Awesome!"

The two women stood at the edge of Yuna's stage, directly above the blitz sphere. The concert had been a kickoff for the opening day of the Spira League Finals. It had been a huge success, too. It seemed as though everyone in Spira had come to Luca for opening day, even if they weren't blitz fans.

It had been quite a setup too. Shinra had designed the entire stage, pyrotechnics, and the exploding sphere. That had been his crown achievement, the sphere. Upon detonation, the sphere shattered like glass into about a hundred individual screens, each of which showed a different view of the stage. They had floated up high into the stands, giving everyone an equal chance at seeing the performance, even in the nosebleed section.

Tobli had done the footwork, practically going door to door throughout all of Spira to tell them about the event. Judging from the turnout, he had been completely successful. Even Kimahri and some of the Ronso tribe showed up.

Yuna glanced at Rikku, who was torn between cheering for Tidus or her own favorite Psyches.

It had been her and Yuna that were on the stage. Rikku, bless her, still couldn't sing, but she was the best backup dancer. They had been practicing all week to get it right, and it had gone off without a hitch.

"He scored again!" Rikku said, bringing Yuna back to the game.

She looked down at the game in time to see Tidus smiling up at her. She smiled back.

"Yunie, look out!" Rikku shouted, shoving Yuna from the platform even as the sound of an explosion hit her ears.

Four 

Tidus didn't know what was happening. He was smiling up at her, about to blow a kiss, when the entire stage burst into flames. He gasped, water filling his mouth. Bright blue eyes scanned the top of the sphere, as a thousand screams filtered in through the water. He felt the explosion as it rippled through the sphere, lapping against his body.

_Yuna?_

He saw her then, falling like a stone. If she landed in the pool the water would slow her down, stop her if she was still conscious.

_If she's even alive._

Tidus clamped down on the thought, swimming as fast as he could for the woman. She wasn't going to hit the sphere, she was going to miss it and fall to the ground below. Tidus risked a glance up in time to see Rikku hit the pool; both blitz teams rushing to her aid. Even from as far away as he was, Tidus could see she wasn't in good shape. Tidus focused again on Yuna, pushing himself as hard as he could. He shot through the water like a bullet, judging her fall and compensating.

Even as he went after her, he didn't know what he was going to do. He couldn't dive out of the sphere to catch her, because he'd succumb to the same fate. He had to get her into the pool.

_How? Dammit!_

He continued after her, the water slowing him down enough to enrage him. He didn't know what to do, and if he didn't act soon she would be dead.

_Think, stupid!_

Then it came to him. He dove lower, heading directly toward the bottom of the sphere. Ever fourth of the sphere was divided by what was called a retrieval line. It was attached to injured players when they needed to be removed from the game, and they were towed gently out on a stretcher.

Tidus wrapped his fingers around the end of the cable, pulling it out of it's housing and swimming back toward the still plummeting girl. He clipped it to his uniform as he swam, hoping that it would hold him. Tidus pushed himself harder, feeling his endurance wearing thin as he shot through the pool. He was almost at the bottom now, and soon Yuna would be too far away for him to even hope to retrieve. The girl had moved into a position that brought her closer to the sphere as she fell, though Tidus didn't know if it was intentional or not. She still wasn't moving.

He kicked hard, moving like an eel as he approached the threshold of the pool. Before he even realized he was there, Tidus broke through, fluid exploding outward with him. He took a gasping breath, aiming himself at Yuna as best he could. He was close, so close, but the cable was already beginning to tension. He was running out of line.

_Not enough, it's not enough._

Tidus stretched himself out to the point that it hurt as the cable went taut, yanking him sideways. He began a wicked arc, and only had once chance. He threw his right hand out, reaching for the girl's extended arm.

He caught her wrist.

Tidus yanked her back to him, wrapping a hand around her waist as the cable swung him around and back toward the sphere. They were almost safe, or so Tidus thought.

Now that he wasn't concentrating so much on Yuna, he was able to hear the chaos that Luca had been thrown into. He heard screams and explosions everywhere, though he had no idea what was going on.

A sharp pain sprung from his left arm, spreading like wildfire down to his wrist. Following the searing pain were several stray bullets that missed, tearing through the air in his wake. He had been shot. Tidus heard several more shots zip by him, followed by a loud snapping sound.

And suddenly he was free, flying through the air with no direction. The cable had been shot. Tidus repositioned himself, aiming both he and Yuna back toward the pool. There was a chance they would overshoot it, and if they did they were dead.

They sailed through the air, coming slowly closer and closer to the pool. Tidus stuck his injured arm out, reaching desperately for the sphere's edge and taking a deep breath.

_Closer, closer… there!_

Tidus got his arm into the pool, and the pain was incredible. The water acted as a fulcrum, whipping both of them back into the sphere. They continued a little ways into the sphere, as Tidus slowly brought them to a stop.

Blood was seeping into the water, but Tidus ignored it. Yuna was more important. He pulled the girl in front of him, getting his first look at her. She wasn't bleeding from what he could see, but she wasn't breathing.

Tidus immediately pressed his lips to hers, creating a tight seal. He forced air from his lungs into hers. He paused, and did it again. Yuna coughed into his mouth, but he kept their lips locked so she would have something to inhale. She got her bearings quickly, tapping him to signal he was okay.

Tidus leaned back, then immediately leaned back in and kissed her again. For a quick second her eyes lit up, and she smiled. She mouthed one long word.

"_Macalania."_

Tidus smiled again, ignoring his burning lungs and bloody arm. Yuna was safe. Everything was right in the world.

And then the blitz sphere began to fall apart.

**A/N**

Author's Note: This is written for the purpose of bouncing ideas off of a friend. The following information is for him to read, and I plan on deleting this story once he has read it and gets a basic idea of the story. I hope it doesn't ruin the future incarnation of my story by including this. So, if you want to read this story in full when it is complete, I suggest not reading the below.

**STORY SPOILERS**

As the summary explains, there are two sides to everything. Good and evil, and all that. This story revolves around the opposition of the Fayth. They're called Stryfe, and they are what happens to evil intentioned people transformed as the Fayth are. They are responsible for the corrupting of many, and were pinnacle in the creation of Sin and the strengthening of Fiends. As the Fayth are no longer in power, the Stryfe are seeking a place.

For you see, thousands of years before there was a massive war between the Fayth and Stryfe. The Fayth won, and used their combined power to trap the Stryfe in a dream of their own. A dream in which they had been victorious in the war, and controlled their own destiny. Unfortunately the Fayth did not expect that when they stopped dreaming, so did the Stryfe. They began to wake up, discovering that they truly were defeated.

Now they seek revenge on the Fayth.

And they plan to use Yuna to get their revenge.

And...

That's all I shall reveal. For now.


End file.
